NZ dollar becalmed and awaiting offshore impetus

April 8 (BusinessDesk) - The New Zealand dollar was
little changed after adjusting to a raft of positive news
last week and with investors now awaiting further impetus
from offshore.

The positive news included Chinese
manufacturing data rebounding back into expansionary
territory, better manufacturing data from the United States
and stronger-than-expected US jobs numbers. That caused the
greenback to rise against New Zealand’s currency.

The
kiwi was trading at 67.32 US cents at 5:05pm in Wellington
from 67.26 at 8am, and at 67.54 this time on Friday, while
the trade-weighted index was at 73.14 points from
73.13.

Mark Lister, the head of wealth research at Craigs
Investment Partners, notes that although the currency fell
more than a percent against the US dollar last week, it is
still 0.28 percent higher than when it began this
year.

Peter Cavanaugh, the senior client advisor at
Bancorp Treasury Services, says the New Zealand dollar
traded just a 15 point range against the US dollar today and
a 17 point range against the Australian dollar.

“It’s
another typical Monday – after an exciting week, it made
the appropriate adjustments and is now sitting waiting for
more direction from offshore,” Cavanaugh says.

The
Australian dollar is similarly becalmed, he says.

That’s
despite Citibank taking a bullish view on the Australian
dollar, citing its expectation China’s policies aimed at
stimulating that economy are starting to work – China is
both New Zealand’s and Australia’s largest trading
partner.

But Cavanaugh says the degree of uncertainty
globally means it’s possible to make both a positive and a
negative case for every currency.

The key uncertainties
remain the outcome of the ongoing China-US trade
negotiations and Britain’s ongoing farce about
Brexit.

“The good news is we will have some idea of what
kind of Brexit may happen by the end of this week,”
Cavanaugh says.

The New Zealand dollar was at 94.87
Australian cents from 94.63, at 51.52 British pence from
51.57, 59.94 euro cents from 59.96, 74.98 Japanese yen from
75.14 and at 4.5227 Chinese yuan from 4.5187.

The New
Zealand two-year swap rate fell to 1.6279 percent from
1.6339 on Friday while the 10-year swap rate fell to 2.2200
percent from
2.2625.

Contact BusinessDesk

“It is our intention that the clarity that will come from the outcome of these proceedings will enable the Crown to work with Southern Response to provide a soundly based proactive solution to those people that are affected.” More>>

Classifying on-demand video content will be made mandatory to bring it in line with other media and provide better guidance and protections to families and young people, says Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin. More>>

Inland Revenue and the Accident Compensation Corporation are calling ‘time’ on cheques. From March next year, IR and ACC will no longer accept payments by cheque from customers who are able to use alternative payment options. More>>

ALSO:

Broader participation by New Zealanders, greater access to growth capital for New Zealand enterprises, and more choices for investors drive the recommendations in the Capital Markets 2029 report released today. More>>

Wallabies could spread over a third of New Zealand within the next 50 years, unless control is increased dramatically, says Forest & Bird central North Island regional manager Rebecca Stirnemann. More>>